The White City Internship Fund

Help to develop Imperial students

Unlock the potential of our dynamic, engaged and diverse talent pool through the Imperial College London White City Internship Fund. 

Exclusive to member businesses and charities based in Scale Space or I-HUB on the White City campus, the fund allows you to harness the innovative skills and enthusiasm of an Imperial Intern to support and deliver a defined, growth-focused project between July and September each summer.

Projects must be a minimum of eight weeks in duration and can be advertised as full or part-time hours. Business will receive a 50% salary contribution towards the cost of hiring an intern (for up to eight weeks full time or part time equivalent). This is based on the intern being the Real London Living Wage each year.

To register your interest in the White City Internship Fund 2025, please complete our short Expression of Interest Form.

Funding is allocated on a first come first served basis to projects that meet the scheme's eligibility criteria. 

The scheme is funded by the Higher Education Innovation Fund and delivered by the Imperial College London Careers Service. If you have any questions, please contact the Placement and Internship Unit

White City Internship Fund - information tabs

How does the scheme work?

Step one: Project Registration

To apply to the scheme, all interested businesses must complete a Project Registration Form. Submitted forms will be reviewed by a selection panel against the scheme criteria and available funding will be allocated on a rolling basis until spent.

Project Registrations open in Spring each year. The 2024 submission window has now closed.

Step two: Project Scoping

If selected for funding, we will support you to fully scope the project and outline the skills and experience required for the role. You will have sign-off on the final job description before advertising. 

Step three: Advertising

Once the job description is confirmed, the opportunity will be advertised through our Careers Service online system JobsLive for a minimum of two weeks. The Placement and Internship Unit will monitor applications throughout this period and publicise the internship to eligible students and graduates through various marketing channels. 

Step four: Shortlisting  

When advertising is completed the Placement and Internship Unit will download and share all applicant's CVs and application forms with you. If you select in your Registration Form that you would like shortlisting assistance, the Placement and Internship Unit will shortlist the applications and provide you with the applications of the most suitable candidates based on the criteria outlined in the job description.  

Step five: Interviews

Once you’ve reviewed the applications, you will be able to contact your preferred candidates to arrange interviews at your convenience. Once you have selected your intern, please advise the Placement and Internship Unit of your decision and directly provide feedback to the unsuccessful interviewees. 

Step six: Agreements

Once you have confirmed with your intern their start date, hours/days of work and total salary, the Placement and Internship Unit will send a Funding Agreement to the host to be signed. Please note; this is not an employment contract, full details of the internship should be confirmed in a separate agreement between the intern and the company. 

Step seven: Invoicing

The host organisation will pay the intern their salary directly through the company. An invoice should be sent to Imperial College London for the White City Internship Fund contribution once agreements have been signed before the end of June 2024 (full instructions for this will be shared). 

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible, your organisation must be;

  • Registered with a physical office or lab space in Scale Space White City or I-HUB. If you do not meet this eligibility criteria, please visit the SME Internship Fund page for alternative support. 

In order to be eligible, the project must be;

  • A minimum of eight weeks in duration
  • A minimum of 15 hours per week
  • Delivered between July - September 2024
  • Paid London Living Wage (£13.15 per hour)
  • Offered to an Imperial student or graduate
  • Suitable for STEM disciplines or Business School students (view full list of departments)
  • Able to provide challenging and interesting graduate-level experience to penultimate years, finalists or recent graduates of Imperial College London. 
How do I apply?

Project Proposals for the Imperial College London White City Internship Fund are now closed for 2024.

Please contact the Imperial Internship Unit (internship.unit@imperial.ac.uk) with any questions.